WASHINGTON, New Hampshire - Until Bernie Sanders entered the race, Gary Voss planned to vote for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election.

Voss identifies as Republican, but Vermont's independent senator who is vying for the Democratic nomination has won the Peterborough resident's support.

"This is the first time I'm excited about a presidential candidate," the undeclared voter said while eating lunch Monday at the Washington General Store.

Voss has tried to convince his family members to vote for Sanders too. Voss said he recently received a Sanders poster in the mail and pasted it to his wife's bathroom mirror, along with Tuesday's polling hours.

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. across the state.

Quick to pull up a stool and talk politics, Voss said he backs Sanders because "he says what he means." He agrees with Sanders that the people on Wall Street should be in jail, he said.

Voss generally considers himself apolitical. He kept political beliefs to himself until this presidential primary, and said he was unsure how residents in his town of roughly 6,000 planned to vote or whether they are Democrat or Republican.

Voss's town of Peterborough overwhelmingly supported President Barack Obama in the 2008 election, according to New Hampshire Public Radio. Obama won over Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by a margin of 20.7 percent.

Sanders will likely have similar success in communities near the Vermont border, where Obama and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean found strong support.

Sanders is currently leading by 12.8 percentage points over Clinton in New Hampshire, according to Real Clear Politics polling data.

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The Washington General Store in Washington, New Hampshire. Owner Nancy Curran said many customers are supporting Donald Trump in the state's primary election.(Photo11: HALEY DOVER/ FREE PRESS)

Despite Voss's patronage, the General Store lacked a lunch rush on Monday afternoon. Owners Nancy Curran and Dan McClure said usually the place is buzzing with activity and gossip, but an impending winter storm likely kept customers away on primary eve.

In the town of 1,123, Curran said she has heard many of the store's customers voice support for Trump. They cite his background as a businessman and a political outsider, she said. Curran, an undeclared voter, agrees with those customers but said Trump is a little too "off the wall" to secure her vote.

"But we do need something different," she said. "Maybe that's Bernie, but I'm still undecided."